


black & gold

by alifeofourown



Category: One Direction (Band), X Factor RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-05
Updated: 2012-04-05
Packaged: 2017-11-04 00:25:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/387608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alifeofourown/pseuds/alifeofourown
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis's been sullen and removed all day, but when he suddenly grabs Harry and drags him off to the middle of nowhere, insane things ensue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	black & gold

                “Where’re you taking me, Louis?” Harry asked as he followed obediently behind the older boy. All day Louis had been keeping to himself, hiding plans from Harry and barely even talking to him. And then he attacked, grabbing the boy and tugging him along to god knows where. “Louuuuuis,” Harry whined as he stopped in his place. “If you won’t tell me where we’re going then I’m not going to keep walking along.”

                Louis turned around and he looked at Harry, staring at him with an intense gaze that Harry hadn’t seen from him in ages. It was almost as if he looked pissed off. “Why do you insist on ruining the surprise, Haz?” he asked softly. “Why?”

                “I just want to know where we’re going,” Harry responded weakly as he squeezed Louis’s hand, trying to reassure the boy that he really wasn’t trying to ruin anything. “I just don’t like not knowing where we’re going.”

                Louis considered what the boy was saying for a moment before he flashed a grin in his direction. “Somewhere special,” he cheerfully responded before tugging Harry along again. “Come now. We’re gonna be late if we stick around here any longer.”

                Harry frowned and he continued on trailing behind Louis, thoroughly unsatisfied with the answer he’d been given. Where in the world was this ‘somewhere special’? Was Louis going mad? The answer was probably yes, but Harry pushed the question aside as they continued to trudge along, Harry moping and Louis bouncing along as if the sun was shining down only on him.

                “We’re here!” Louis finally commented as they stopped in front of an abandoned field. There were a few people milling about but otherwise there was nothing special about this place at all. Harry pulled back, confused.

                “Why are we here, Lou?” he asked as he completely separated himself form the boy. “Plotting to do away with me so you get more solos?” It was obvious that he was teasing but Louis frowned regardless.

                “I would never do that, Hazza. You’re my best mate. Getting rid of you would be like getting rid of a part of me.” Harry’s heart warmed slightly at Louis’s response and he reached out and squeezed the boy’s hand lightly.

                They stood there for a moment, just staring at the field before Harry spoke. “So what are we doing here?” he asked as he looked at Louis.

                “Something exciting,” Louis simply replied before he grabbed onto Harry’s arm and tugged him onto the field, waving to those who were now starting to gather together. “Mind if we join you guys?” he asked the small group. The general consensus was indifferent to the two singers joining in on their activities, so Louis dropped Harry’s arm and smiled, leaning in to peer inside the bag on the ground.

                “You’re from One Direction, aren’t you?” one of the girls commented as she looked up at them. “What are you doing here?”

                “Honestly?” Harry replied as he smiled lightly at her. “I have no idea. I don’t even know what we’re doing since it was all this nitwit’s idea.” He elbowed Louis in the side, earning a laugh from the older boy.

                The girl smiled lightly as she looked at them. “It’s a game of sorts,” she explained to Harry. “You end up on teams and there’s paint and it’s all sorts of fun.”

                “Paint?” Harry asked as he raised an eyebrow. “Are you determined to ruin my hair forever, Louis?”

                “Who said anything about getting the paint in your hair?” Louis replied as he kneeled down and started digging inside the bag. A grin spread across his face as he found what he was looking for and pocketed it carefully so that Harry couldn’t see.

                Harry was tempted to ask Louis where it would end up if not his hair, but he decided to let the conversation drop. “I’ll be on your team, Harry,” the girl commented as she smiled. “I’m Em.”

                “Well at least someone’s on my side,” Harry responded with a laugh as he offered a hand out to her. She shook it and laughed in response while Louis just pouted. “You can be on the other team, Lou.”

                “Don’t worry, I was planning on it,” Louis replied before he stepped over towards the others who had already decided teams. “See you on the battlefield, Harry!”

                Harry flipped Louis off and accompanied it by a friendly smile before he walked with Em over to the team he was to be on. “So how does this work?” he asked.

                “Have you ever played paintball?” she asked. Harry shook his head. “Bummer. Paintball’s a blast, but this is nothing like paintball. Basically the goal is to avoid getting painted  by your rival. You have to paint patterns on each other and whichever team is less painted up at the end of it all wins.”

                “What do you win?” Harry asked as he looked at her, eager to boast some sort of prize over Louis’s head for all the trouble he’d caused all morning. “Or is it just one of those satisfaction of winning sort of things?”

                Em just smiled as she looked at Harry. “Don’t worry. You’ll figure out the prize in due time.” She smiled. “Your rival partner is your target so I would assume since you came with Louis that he’ll be your target.” It almost seemed like she was laughing about the whole thing but Harry didn’t comment. “Just focus on drenching him in paint, okay?”

                “Sounds easy enough,” Harry replied before he fished out a tube of paint from the bag and smiled. “Let’s do this.” The leader from the other team shouted over to see if they were ready and Em responded that they were. Harry crouched down slightly as he listened to the other leader count down until the start of the game.

                “3…2…1…PAINT!” Harry darted away from his team and slipped around a bush (two bushes and a tree, really) to avoid Louis who was chasing him as if his life depended on it.

                “I’ll get you, Harry!” he shouted out cheerfully as he followed the curly-haired boy, paint already coating his fingertips to attack when he caught up.

                Harry doubled back around the tree and he thought for a moment, hesitating as he considered climbing the tree. By the time he realised it wouldn’t be a feasible plan, Louis had caught up to him and was pushing him back against the tree, pinning him there with a steady hand.

                “Get off me!” Harry hissed as he tried to pull away from Louis and reach for his paint tube at the same time. Louis just laughed as he reached forward and swiped cool paint along Harry’s neck in swirling patterns, not even hesitating to listen to Harry’s swears. He continued on, his fingers slipping up beneath Harry’s chin as he painted a star by the boy’s lips.

                Harry stopped, completely frozen in place. In a few simple touches Louis had managed to completely quell the need to win the game that Harry still didn’t understand. The paint tube slipped from his fingers as Louis swiped paint along Harry’s cheeks, his fingers gracefully gliding over cheekbones and stopping at Harry’s ear.

                “Louis…” the name slipped from Harry’s lips as he looked at the boy, watching his face light up as Harry spoke his name. He didn’t respond otherwise, just continuing on to paint swirls of colour over Harry’s forehead and down his nose. “Louis.” Harry swallowed as Louis stopped and watched him, shifting his fingers down to gracefully touch his adam’s apple, smiling as he felt it move beneath his fingertips.

                “Lou…” Harry didn’t manage to finish this time as a surge of emotions rushed through him. He hesitated for just a moment before pushing forward and catching Louis in an intense kiss, letting out all of the pent up emotions that had been stored away for fear of hurting the band. He let all of his fears and worries fade away as he kissed Louis, grabbing the boy by the collar of his shirt and tugging him as close as possible.

                Louis kissed back with the same intensity as he let his paint-covered hand find its way into Harry’s curls, tugging as he coated them in the sticky substance. He pulled Harry closer, wrapping an arm around the boy’s waist and trying to convey all of his emotions into the kiss. When they finally parted, Harry stared up at Louis with widened eyes, unsure of what to say and if he would ruin everything by speaking. Louis just smiled in response before he leaned in and kissed him again, deciding to not let words get in the way when he finally managed to get the one thing he wanted.

 

~

 

                Louis was an expert when it came to paints. Harry couldn’t imagine how he’d never noticed this before, but now that he was covered from the waist up in Louis’s designs he realised that all he wanted from now until the rest of his life was to have Louis’s fingers all over him, painting design after design onto his skin.

                He curled into Louis’s grip as they laid there in the warm sun, pondering what management would think if he showered up on stage one day covered in designs of pitch black and glittering gold, the paints that he and Louis had so properly picked out to cover Harry’s body in. A shadow crososed over them and Harry shifted his gaze from where he’d been watching Louis sleep, exhausted from creating his masterpiece on Harry’s skin.

                It was Em.

                “I see you figured out the prize,” she told Harry with a small smile. “Glad to know that it worked out for you. Louis seemed like he was sure you’d never go for it when he called asking if he could come.” She pulled out a flyer and held it up so that Harry could read it.

 

Couple’s Painting

Experience the wonder of playfully painting across your lover’s skin.

 

                “He was worried that you would shy away once he started painting on you,” she told him with a smile. “It was precious, the way he spoke of you.”

                Harry just smiled as he looked over at Louis, watching the boy’s chest rise and fall evenly as he slept. “I’ve been in love with Louis for the longest time. I was wondering how long it’d take him to realise I loved him.” He reached over and gently brushed Louis’s hair out of his face. “Now I know the answer. He’s always loved me too.”

                Em laughed softly. “That sounds so very cheesy,” she told Harry, running a hand through her paint-smattered hair, the pink and white designs on her face accentuating her gentle smile. “I’m glad you two got together, though. You should have heard Louis on the phone. ‘Oh I just want Harry to realise how much I love him. I’ve always need him and now maybe he’ll realise that I do. I-‘”

                “I didn’t sound like that in the slightest,” Louis murmured, opening his eyes to look at the girl. “I merely asked if I could participate in the game and if they could, you know, not say anything to you about it because I wanted it to happen naturally.”

                “Yes,” Em said with a laugh. “That’s _exactly_ how you asked,” she told him before smiling. “You weren’t a mushy little ball of gay boy at all.” Louis threw his empty paint tub at her and she dodged it, laughing. “You just stick to your story, Louis. I’m sure when they ask you how you and Harry got together in interviews this will be in an interesting one no matter how manly you’d like to seem.”

                Harry snorted slightly. “I think that’ll be a whole new adventure all on its own,” he told Em before smiling. “Thanks for letting us come.”

                “Anytime,” she replied with a smile. “If you ever feel like promoting us….” She laughed softly. “Don’t do it. We like our little group of people and we don’t need a bunch of fourteen-year-olds running around here.”

                “Got it.” Harry smiled and he pushed his hair back before waving her off. Em took her leave just as Louis sat up and looked at Harry.

                “You’re all covered in paint,” he told him softly before smiling. “I did that.”

                “Yes, I know. You’re a true artist, you sleep idiot,” Harry told him lovingly before he leaned in and pressed a light kiss to Louis’s lips. “Come on. We ought to be heading back before Paul realizes we’re missing and sends out the royal search party.”

                Louis made a face. “Oh god, not that again,” Louis told him as he shook his head. “That was bad enough the first time around.”

                Harry laughed and he stood before offering Louis his hand. Louis instantly took it and he got up before smiling. “So you’re mine now?”

                “Only if you’re mine in return,” Harry responded as he intertwined his fingers with Louis’s.

                “No of course not. You can be mine but I can’t be yours. It’s in the unofficial rule book of things that don’t make sense.”

                Harry looked at him seriously before a moment before he laughed and nudged Louis. “Shut up.”

                “Make me.” Louis stuck his tongue out at Harry and he considered biting it for a moment before he just shoved him again. “Don’t make me?”

                “Making you shut up is too much effort, and it results in kisses which is clearly what you want,” Harry replied with a smile. “So I’ll just leave you to your own devices.”

                “You know that’s the worst idea you’ve had all week, right?”

                “That’s alright. It’s been the best day, so I can survive with you talking my ear off on the way back.”

                Louis beamed and he squeezed his hand. “Good! Then I can tell you all of the reasons that I love you. I’ve made a list. It’s got two-hundred and forty-eight things on it.”

                “Oh god…”

                “Okay, number one, the way you-“

                Harry interrupted him by kissing him, his fingers lightly resting on the boy’s shoulder as he did so. When he pulled back, Louis was grinning. “You done now?”

                Louis thought for a moment before he nodded. “Let’s go home.”

                “Yes,” Harry said with a smile. “Let’s.”

                He tugged Louis along down the lane, thinking about how everything was going to be different now that he had a boyfriend. Boyfriend…he smiled at the word. It was almost like a happily ever after.

                With some black and gold paint, of course.


End file.
